Envisioning a new world empire based on a fusion of Greek and
Iranian culture and ideals, Alexander the Great of Macedon accelerated
the disintegration of the Achaemenid Empire. He was first accepted
as leader by the fractious Greeks in 336 B.C. and by 334 had advanced
to Asia Minor, an Iranian satrapy. In quick succession he took
Egypt, Babylonia, and then, over the course of two years, the
heart of the Achaemenid Empire--Susa, Ecbatana, and Persepolis--the
last of which he burned. Alexander married Roxana (Roshanak),
the daughter of the most powerful of the Bactrian chiefs (Oxyartes,
who revolted in present-day Tadzhikistan), and in 324 commanded
his officers and 10,000 of his soldiers to marry Iranian women.
The mass wedding, held at Susa, was a model of Alexander's desire
to consummate the union of the Greek and Iranian peoples. These
plans ended in 323 B.C., however, when Alexander was struck with
fever and died in Babylon, leaving no heir. His empire was divided
among four of his generals. Seleucus, one of these generals, who
became ruler of Babylon in 312, gradually reconquered most of
Iran. Under Seleucus's son, Antiochus I, many Greeks entered Iran,
and Hellenistic motifs in art, architecture, and urban planning
became prevalent.

Although the Seleucids faced challenges from the Ptolemies of
Egypt and from the growing power of Rome, the main threat came
from the province of Fars (Partha to the Greeks). Arsaces (of
the seminomadic Parni tribe), whose name was used by all subsequent
Parthian kings, revolted against the Seleucid governor in 247
B.C. and established a dynasty, the Arsacids, or Parthians. During
the second century, the Parthians were able to extend their rule
to Bactria, Babylonia, Susiana, and Media, and, under Mithradates
II (123-87 B.C.), Parthian conquests stretched from India to Armenia.
After the victories of Mithradates II, the Parthians began to
claim descent from both the Greeks and the Achaemenids. They spoke
a language similar to that of the Achaemenids, used the Pahlavi
script, and established an administrative system based on Achaemenid
precedents.

Meanwhile, Ardeshir, son of the priest Papak, who claimed descent
from the legendary hero Sasan, had become the Parthian governor
in the Achaemenid home province of Persis (Fars). In A.D. 224
he overthrew the last Parthian king and established the Sassanid
dynasty, which was to last 400 years.

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